Thanks

Developer Biography

As of October 2013, Jean-Francois Valle is the studio manager of Ubisoft Chengdu, a video game studio in Western China. Established in 2008, Ubisoft Chengdu has over 200 employees working on mobile, social and online games, as well as in-sourcing of art, technology and quality control with multiple studios around the globe. Previously, since December 2007, he was involved in starting this new studio as the Director of Development, managing engineering teams and playing a key role with various projects of the studio.

He has been involved in the video game industry since 1995. Back in the old days, he was designing text-based MUDs using a dial-up internet connection. His big break came in 1997 when he joined Ubisoft Montreal as a gameplay programmer for a PC game called Laura's Happy Adventures. Since then, he had the opportunity to work as a multi-disciplinary programmer on various titles, including the Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell franchise, and he has been lucky enough to travel to many Ubisoft Studios around the world.

He was involved in various external speaking engagements, including:
- GMGDC, Chengdu, September 2014, Keynote: A Chinese game for the China market: Monkey King Escape
- Tech Crunch, Beijing, August 2014, Keynote: A Chinese game for the China market: Monkey King Escape
- GMGC, Shanghai, June 2014, Panel: How to best monetize triple-A games
- China GDC, Shanghai, July 2012, Talk: Effective Programmers
- GDC, San Francisco, March 2010, Talk: Bridging the Divide: Western Development and Chinese Culture